Sunday, January 06, 2013

Whatever happened to proactive concern
for safety and well being in this country? Or, to be realistic, has
proactive concern for safety and well being of the nation as a whole
ever really existed?

American Establishment society,
especially through its various organs of communication, almost seems to
enjoy the opportunity to gnash teeth and wax philosophical whenever a
mass murder occurs. Well, at least when it happens domestically.
There's this inherent paradox which consists of the expression of
shock and sorrow whenever these shootings occur, as if these
incidents shouldn't happen in America, despite how many times they
occur in relatively short periods.

I don't have any sympathy, and
certainly no level of empathy, for anyone who would go and kill
others as these mass shooters have done. Still, with the emphasis on
concern to keep people safe and unharmed, it can't hurt to send out a
message to anyone considering such a pointless and destructive
action. Suicide prevention is presented in public service
announcements as a general call to anyone considering harming
themselves, or knowing of someone who might, to avoid allowing harm
to happen and seeking help. If that approach is used to deter people
from hurting themselves, why can't a similar tactic be deployed to
keep people from hurting others?

No one in the public arena stands up
and says to the faceless ones who may kill in the future: “You must
reconsider your plans. You must not allow these selfish destructive
plans to consume you and destroy the lives of others. You must stand
down.” Instead, they just stick to the usual pointless diatribes
about gun control and indoctrination to media influence. Folks with a
cynical streak in their thinking may feel like a proactive message of
that nature may be a waste of time. Can anyone show me a suggested
“solution” that has worked at all so far?

The focus on looking at improvements in
mental health treatment is interesting but doesn't seem to come even
close to doing anything to making any real impact on future violence
from happening again. Most people diagnosed with mental illness
aren't violent anyway, and are actually more likely to be victims of
violence than their fellow citizens in the the allegedly sane
population. You know, those folks who pass the Personal Firearms
Eligibility Check and then stock up on umpteen guns and thousands of
rounds of ammo.

Instead of treating this problem as an
afterthought, waiting until the next batch of funerals to engage in
broadcasting the hand wringing and useless diatribes from all of the
usual talking heads, why not at least make a serious effort to affect
the sensibility and attitude of an entire population? Perhaps Mr.
Lennon was on the right track with that “War Is Over” stuff after
all.